NCJ Number
94076
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1981) Pages: 43-56
Date Published
1981
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Sarat and Vidmar's study of an American community suggests that if the public were informed, opinion polls would show more people opposed to capital punishment than favor it; the present study indicates that this conclusion can be generalized to Canada.
Abstract
The subjects for this study were 39 University of Western Ontario undergraduates recruited as volunteers (13 male and 26 female). The experiment consisted of a 2x2 factorial design: experimental/control conditions compared at pretest and posttest. The experimental group was exposed to the information materials and group discussion, while the control group simply completed the pre- and post-questionnaries. Assignment of subjects to conditions was nonrandom. The first questionnaire contained questions designed to obtain basic biographical information, religious and political attitudes, and the extent of previous familiarity with the capital punishment issue. Death penalty attitudes were measured with a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from very strongly in favor of to very strongly opposed to the death penalty. There was evidence to confirm Sarat and Vidmar's previous finding that people generally know little about capital punishment. Subjects in the control group (received no information on capital punishment) not only maintained support for capital punishment on the posttest, but there was a slight trend toward increased support. Opinion in the experimental subjects changed from about 33 percent opposing capital punishment on the pretest to about 71 percent opposing it in the posttest. At the very least, the study suggests that under certain conditions, attitudes toward the death penalty are subject to change. Tabular data and references are provided.